Norman v. Life Care Centers of America
In California, failure to follow state or federal regulations in providing elder care can trigger a negligence per se jury instruction. Meaning, at trial, the burden shifts to the nursing home to show why it wasn’t negligent. Norman v. Life Care Centers of America, Inc. (2003) 107 Cal.App.4th 1233.
This is a powerful concept in elder abuse. Normally, the injured party has the burden of showing that the defendant was negligent for causing their harm.
What Norman doesn’t do is relieve the injured party from having to show that negligence caused injury and what the injuries were, what lawyers call “causation” and “damages.” Still, if you have an elder abuse case you are handling, or a senior in a nursing home where you suspect the care might be substandard, the regulations can help you focus your thoughts.
Make Sure Your Doctor Interprets Your Tests
If you suspect traumatic brain injury, make sure a doctor interpreted your tests.
No two brain injuries are exactly the same. The effects of a brain injury are complex and vary greatly from person to person. Outcomes can range from complete recovery to permanent disability or death.
“With the now common use of teleradiology, the doctors who read your scans may well be across town, several states over or on the other side of the world. And instead of discussing what they see with your M.D., the often far-flung radiologists may send only written reports with little or no interaction. The result can resemble a perilous game of telephone.”
“Although teleradiology can improve care by allowing access to specialists, a self investigation found that it also opens the door to confusion, errors and outright fraud. “Source MSNBC
Join the Fight Against Elder Abuse!
Every day, headlines throughout the U.S. paint a grim picture of seniors who have been abused, neglected, and exploited, often by people they trust the most. Abusers may be spouses, family members, personal acquaintances, or professionals in positions of trust; or opportunistic strangers who prey on the vulnerable.
How big is the problem? No one knows for certain because relatively few cases are identified. Research indicates that more than one in ten elder may experience some type of abuse, but only one in five cases or fewer are reported. This means that very few seniors who have been abused get the help they need.
One thing is for certain: elder abuse can happen to any older individual – your neighbor, your loved one
Every day, headlines throughout the U.S. paint a grim picture of seniors who have been abused, neglected, and exploited, often by people they trust the most. Abusers may be spouses, family members, personal acquaintances, or professionals in positions of trust; or opportunistic strangers who prey on the vulnerable.How big is the problem? No one knows for certain because relatively few cases are identified. Research indicates that more than one in ten elder may experience some type of abuse, but only one in five cases or fewer are reported. This means that very few seniors who have been abused get the help they need.One thing is for certain: elder abuse can happen to any older individual – your neighbor, your loved one
The National Center on Elder Abuse is a valuable information resource. http://www.ncea.aoa.gov/ncearoot/Main_Site/index.aspx
California Elder Abuse Statute is available online
The Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse relies upon many different laws in its criminal and civil prosecutions involving both Medi-Cal fraud and elder abuse.
Click here to visit the State of California DOJ, Office of the Attorney General for links to download the Statutes.
Traumatic Deceleration Injuries
Most people don’t realize that traumatic deceleration injuries, a sort of brain whip-lash without direct impact, can have devastating effect.
As Medscape notes: “Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) is a frequent result of traumatic deceleration injuries and a frequent cause of persistent vegetative state in patients. In fact, DAI represents approximately one half of all intra-axial traumatic lesions.[1] This lesion is the most significant cause of morbidity in patients with traumatic brain injuries, which most commonly result from high-speed motor vehicle accidents. DAI typically consists of several focal white-matter lesions measuring 1-15 mm in a characteristic distribution.”
Read the entire article here: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/339912-overview
Elder Abuse Is A Crime
• The United States Census Bureau projected in 2000 that California’s elderly population will have doubled by 2025 to 6.4 million – a larger growth rate than any other state.
• The California State Department of Finance claims that the number of California residents age 85 and older – those who are most likely to need nursing homes — will nearly double by the year 2030, when the bulk of baby boomers will come of age.
• In 2005, the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development reported that one-fifth of California’s nursing facilities did not meet state-mandated requirements for staffing levels.
• In 2006, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reported that twice as many of California’s 115,000 plus residents are placed in physical restraints as are nationally.
• From 2001 to 2005, the California Department of Health Care Services, found that two-thirds of all reported deficiencies caused or could have caused significant harm to one of more residents in nursing homes. More than half of all complaints in nursing homes are related to poor quality of care. Eighteen percent of substantiated complaints were related to mistreatment or abuse.
By learning to recognize signs of abuse and reporting suspected cases, you can make a difference in the lives of elderly and dependent Californians. Click here for the Citizen’s Guide to Preventing & Reporting Elder Abuse
Settlements and IRS Tax Considerations
More and more, tax considerations are driving decisions about strategy as clients make decisions on how to proceed with their lawsuits. The Internal Revenue Service is tuned in to taxable settlements as an area that they need to police.
Examiners are taught to look for leads on possible taxable settlements by reading newspapers, doing courthouse research and by other methods.
An IRS Training Manual (Training 3123-009 (11-00) TPDS No. 86391G) gives us some insight into how the Service approaches the settlement area. Of course, when making any tax decision, you must consult a trained tax professional, since the law is ever changing.
We are attaching the Training Manual here for information purposes only, don’t rely on it since portions may be out of date.
Just standard procedure.
Last week Courthouse news reported the following headline: 9th Circuit Shifts Stance on Wal-Mart Class Suit
The CourtHouseNews.com headline is wrong. This is just standard procedure following appellate review. Now the trial court deals with the case in light of the U.S. Supreme Court decision.Probable outcome is the class action is dead and only individual actions remain, though the plaintiffs may try to take another crack with a smaller class.
Most likely, though, this case goes into the dustbin of history.
